West Chicago factory vaccinates 600 front-line workers

Posted on March 16, 2021March 16, 2021 by Office of Maura Hirschauer

On Monday, around 600 essential workers were able to receive their 1st COVID vaccination conveniently at their workplace after a collaboration between Jel-Sert, Jewel-Osco, DuPage County Health Department, Senator Villa’s Office, and my own office. All the moving parts came together to give the best protection individually to these workers who have been on the lines for the past year. They have great physical protection in place at work and now will have their immune systems trained to fight COVID as well! Thank you to all the individuals who helped to make this vaccination event happen and to each worker who chooses to protect themselves and their community

Read the article at the Daily Herald

Workers prepare to receive their vaccination

Newsletter: March News Roundup

Posted on March 12, 2021March 12, 2021 by Office of Maura Hirschauer

Hi! I hope you enjoy learning what’s up in our district. Subscribe to these newsletters by entering your email at the bottom of any page of our site. To make sure you see these newsletters in your inbox, add office@repmaura49.com to your contacts!

District Office
Virtual Coffeehouse
Joint Advisory Committees
Youth Art Month

COVID-19

IDPH COVID Ambassadors
Vaccinations in Illinois
Hines VA – Vaccinations for Veterans
Help your Senior friends & neighbors

Illinois State

Dept of Natural Resources Grants

Virtual Coffeehouse

TOMORROW is our second Virtual Coffeehouse at 10am. Sign up now to share your questions, receive the link, and join me in conversation.

In a joint effort with Senator Karina Villa’s office, the joint Advisory Committees exist to learn about and discuss specific topics in the scope of policy and legislation. Committees meet once each month and are led by community volunteers. Contact the respective email to join their list to receive information on upcoming meetings.

Education Advisory Committee – education.49th@gmail.com
Environment & Agriculture Advisory Committee – environment.49th@gmail.com
Mental Health Advisory Committee– mentalhealth.49th@gmail.com
Senior Advisory Committee – seniors.49th@gmail.com

Calling all youth artists! This month, I’m inviting local children and teens to brighten my social media to celebrate the importance of visual arts. Submitted artwork may be featured throughout the month as social media graphics. Please send your drawings, paintings or graphic art designs to office+art@repmaura49.com, along with your name, grade, school, and town. I can’t wait to see all that you’ve created!

COVID Ambassadors

Illinois COVID-19 Ambassadors are Illinoisans across the state who play a vital role in supporting current state efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 by promoting and sharing information among their friends, family, peers and neighbors on prevention measures, testing resources, COVID-19 vaccine and other relevant information. Any Illinoisan can volunteer to be an Ambassador.

Become a COVID Ambassador

Illinois COVID-19 Vaccine deployment

Illinois has developed an equity-centric approach to vaccination based on guidelines from doctors and medical professionals at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our state is delivering the vaccine in phases, beginning with people who are the highest risk of mortality and exposure to coronavirus.
Vaccinations occur by appointment and as a greater supply of vaccines become available, new vaccination sites are being created all around Illinois. You can find out where vaccinations are given locally by visiting bit.ly/VaccinationLocations.
COVID-19 vaccines are available free at the point of service through a partnership with the federal government. You will not be charged a co-pay or face a deductible just for getting a coronavirus vaccination.
You can find out more about vaccine safety and availability by visiting bit.ly/ILVaccineFAQs. If you have other questions about COVID-19, I encourage you to contact the Illinois Department of Public Health at 1-800-889-3931 or dph.sick@illinois.gov. You can also view the latest news about COVID-19 in Illinois by visiting coronavirus.illinois.gov.

Find Illinois Vaccine Locations

Visit your county’s health department site for more tailored information on current infection, transmission, and vaccination rates and new local vaccination sites.

Kane County Health Dept
DuPage County Health Dept
Cook County Health Dept

Vaccines for Veterans- Hines VA

Currently, VA is offering COVID-19 vaccine to Veterans already receiving care from the VA, based on CDC and VA risk criteria. If you’re eligible to get a vaccine, your VA health care team will contact you. Check the Hines VA site here for further details.
Veterans who are not enrolled or do not currently receive care at VA can visit VA’s Eligibility web page to learn more: Eligibility For VA Health Care | Veterans Affairs

Help your Senior friends & neighbors

Access to COVID-19 Vaccines is available to all Illinois seniors age 65 and over. But access is limited if those seniors are not fluent in internet usage or even computers and email. Many have been helped by their children or friends to get an appointment, but many more do not have those resources to make appointments for them.

The organizations listed below have agreed to help area seniors with technology issues/difficulty registering for vaccine appointments or information.
If you know of a senior who does not have access to a computer or do not have an email address, ask them to call:
Seniors Services Associates: 630-897-4035 (Aurora), or 847-741-0404 (Elgin).
AgeGuide Northeastern Illinois: 630-293-5990
Association for Individual Development (AID): 630-966-9393
Aurora Public Library District: 630-264-4117
Aurora Township: 630-897-8777 Ext. 1178
Batavia RSVP: 630-406-9993
Family Focus: 331-256-5980
Fox Valley Community Services: 815-786-9404
Gail Borden Public Library District: 847-742-2411
Geneva Public Library District: 630-232-0780
Hampshire Township: 847-683-9464
Kane Senior Council: 630-338-0999
Retina Health Institute – Dr Rashmi Kapur: 847-488-1030
St. Charles Public Library: 630-584-0076
Two Rivers Head Start Agency: 630-264-1444

IDNR Grants

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is now accepting applications for grants through four different programs:

Volunteer Fire Assistance Program,
Special Wildlife Funds Wildlife Preservation Fund – Wildlife Rehabilitation Facilities Program,
State Furbearer Fund, and
Coastal Management Grants Program

Each grant program has specific eligibility criteria, project guidelines, application guidelines, and scoring criteria. Potential applicants for all of these programs can find more information on the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website.

View the Notice of Funding Opportunity for these programs or browse all State of Illinois grant opportunities.

Rep Maura Hirschauer
District Office

Hirschauer, Villa Help Secure COVID Vaccines for Manufacturing Workers

Posted on March 4, 2021March 5, 2021 by Office of Maura Hirschauer

to best serve the frontline workers who have been serving us so well during this past year

BATAVIA, Ill. – Hundreds of local manufacturing workers received their first dose of the COVID vaccine at a pop-up clinic at Suncast Corporation in Batavia on Wednesday, thanks to advocacy by state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, state Sen. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, and Kane County Health Department officials.

“Yesterday we were able to bring vaccines directly to the workplace in order to best serve the frontline workers who have been serving us so well during this past year,” said Hirschauer. “Suncast, a leading employer in the area, has been transparent and proactive in their mission to keep their employees safe during the pandemic. They were a critical partner in getting the vaccine to their essential workforce.”

Hirschauer helped to secure a total of 1300 vaccines for the employees of Suncast Corporation, where more than 500 essential workers received their first shot on-site on Wednesday.

“Suncast, a leading employer in the area, has been transparent and proactive in their mission to keep their employees safe during the pandemic. They were a critical partner in getting the vaccine to their essential workforce.”

Hirschauer Backing Effort to End Taxpayer-Funded Exit Bonus for Legislators

Posted on March 4, 2021March 4, 2021 by Office of Maura Hirschauer

a simple change that we can make, not only to improve ethical standards in our state but to save taxpayer dollars

WEST CHICAGO, Ill. – State Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, is sponsoring legislation that would end the practice of legislators claiming a full month’s pay for only one day of work.

“In most professions, employees only get paid for the days that they work and legislators should be held to that same standard,” Hirschauer said. “This is a simple change that we can make, not only to improve ethical standards in our state but to save taxpayer dollars.”

Under current state law, legislators can claim a full month’s salary for just one day’s work. Hirschauer is sponsoring House Bill 3104, which would change the legislative pay schedule to prorate legislators’ salaries so they only get a day’s pay for a day’s work. The issue came to light in recent years after a series of high-profile cases of Illinois legislators having to resign mid-term for ethics violations. In those cases when a legislator left office mid-month they were entitled to a full month’s pay.

“Unfortunately, this issue has been highlighted more recently as legislators from both parties have been forced to leave office in relation to bad behavior and ethics violations,” Hirschauer said. “Especially in those cases, it is wrong for taxpayers to be on the hook to pay a full month’s salary for a legislator who only worked several days.”

“…it is wrong for taxpayers to be on the hook to pay a full month’s salary for a legislator who only worked several days.”

Contents

District Office Virtual Coffeehouse Joint Advisory Committees Youth Art Month